Tuesday 1st April  – Windsurf ***** River Orwell at Levington  –  sunny.

Foil – 21.13  knot max (year PB) , 19.69 knot ave (year PB), 10.74  knot hour , 17.69 knot mile (year PB), 52.87 km (year PB)., 14.71 knot alpha.

Starboard Freeride 150 and a Evolution Freeride foil with a Tushingham Storm 6.5.

I was keen to get out today to make the most of the wall to wall sunshine and a good breeze from the ENE so Mag and I headed to Lidl at 8 to do a big shop which then left me free:) I looked at the Coastwatch webcam and the sea did look good so after a quick breakfast I hitched the trailer and drove down to The Manor to check the condition, with low water around 8 it should be OK, arriving at 9.30 on closer inpection it was a litte lumpy, not overly warm around 10 degrees which put me off doing my first open sea session of the year so I headed over to Levington to sail in a direction I rarely sail here! Parking at 10.20 it looked OK even if the tide was still pretty low, foil board was quikly set-up, sail size again was harder with the wind cross shore from the left it is a little sheltered from the cliff/trees but I took a chance with my 6.5 as I am not keen on using anything bigger for foiling! Despite the water still being chilly no hat or gloves were required as I launched from near the marina entrance sailing straight out being joined on the water straight away by a couple of yachts! To start with I didn’t think I had rigged big enough as I sailed down river but found the wind and some lovely smooth water when I passed the tree line. In fact it then turned into a really good session with my 6th best alltime average as I had loads of long 1.50 mile runs down to Felixstowe docks, as usual the wind was up and down  but that’s river sailing for you but once up and flying I could usually keep it going and broke 20 knots 4 times with a sessions best speed of 21.13, got my best mile too, in fact got loads of good mile runs and it took me 2.5 hours before I fall in when I didn’t let go of my sail early enough while gybing and end in the water with a sail on my head! It was great fun bearing off in front of the marina for a speedrun, only trouble then was it took a few gusty beats to get back upwind! So a surprisingly good session sailing 32 miles with even more wind forecast for tomorrow but I have a haircut in the middle of the day so not sure what to do yet?

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=stephen.squirrell.1&set=a.10230624594611207

Tuesday 1st April  – Windsurf ***** River Orwell at Levington  –  sunny.

Foil – 21.13  knot max (year PB) , 19.69 knot ave (year PB), 10.74  knot hour , 17.69 knot mile (year PB), 52.87 km (year PB)., 14.71 knot alpha.

Starboard Freeride 150 and a Evolution Freeride foil with a Tushingham Storm 6.5.

I was keen to get out today to make the most of the wall to wall sunshine and a good breeze from the ENE so Mag and I headed to Lidl at 8 to do a big shop which then left me free:) I looked at the Coastwatch webcam and the sea did look good so after a quick breakfast I hitched the trailer and drove down to The Manor to check the condition, with low water around 8 it should be OK, arriving at 9.30 on closer inpection it was a litte lumpy, not overly warm around 10 degrees which put me off doing my first open sea session of the year so I headed over to Levington to sail in a direction I rarely sail here! Parking at 10.20 it looked OK even if the tide was still pretty low, foil board was quikly set-up, sail size again was harder with the wind cross shore from the left it is a little sheltered from the cliff/trees but I took a chance with my 6.5 as I am not keen on using anything bigger for foiling! Despite the water still being chilly no hat or gloves were required as I launched from near the marina entrance sailing straight out being joined on the water straight away by a couple of yachts! To start with I didn’t think I had rigged big enough as I sailed down river but found the wind and some lovely smooth water when I passed the tree line. In fact it then turned into a really good session with my 6th best alltime average as I had loads of long 1.50 mile runs down to Felixstowe docks, as usual the wind was up and down  but that’s river sailing for you but once up and flying I could usually keep it going and broke 20 knots 4 times with a sessions best speed of 21.13, got my best mile too, in fact got loads of good mile runs and it took me 2.5 hours before I fall in when I didn’t let go of my sail early enough while gybing and end in the water with a sail on my head! It was great fun bearing off in front of the marina for a speedrun, only trouble then was it took a few gusty beats to get back upwind! So a surprisingly good session sailing 32 miles with even more wind forecast for tomorrow but I have a haircut in the middle of the day so not sure what to do yet?

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=stephen.squirrell.1&set=a.10230624594611207